PC for games and family use

Rotor

Hi everyone , I'm after a pc to play games on as my current pc hasn't coped with new games for 3+ years now (dell optiplex 745, XP). Budget £500, though I can probably spin it to the wife as £500 plus operating system ( so lets call it £600:D)

I've never even opened a pc case so building my own may be optimistic.
On searching the forum I came across this (see below -thanks go to Tropez) - is this still a good call or have people got other solutions?
I should probably add - i'm no hardcore gamer, just want something that will play new games now and as long in to the future as possible.

Thanks


You could take this base system http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...75&subcat=2485

Put the RAM up to 8Gb, add an operating system, change the Primary HDD to 1tb and then change the graphics card to a GTX 660 and you come to £562.02 with a 24 month warranty.

And Overclockers staff are pretty good if you want to get them on the phone and ask them for advice, or perhaps ask on their forums for recommendations and get Overclockers to build you a completely bespoke system.

unholyangel

What type of games are you planning on playing?

Tbh an off the shelf model will likely be fine specification wise for anyone who isn't a hardcore gamer or requiring a better model for graphics work etc

Cisco001

overclockers is usually slightly more expensive...

http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=1636

However, I can't comment customer service for these company/

TherealMandM

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers-for-next-day-delivery/123/
£641
or you can get them to build a pc for the spec you want. I used them for a laptop and was much cheaper than anywhere else.
although id recommend paying for the faster build time unless you dont mind waiting a month for it

Rotor

Thanks for the help folks,sorry I've been a while getting back.
Games I mostly want to play are FPS types eg Bioshock Infinite, Farcry etc
Having looked at the specs of both suggestions I have a couple of queries you can hopefully help with.

the dinopc build has 1x8gb RAM whereas the overclockers is 2x4gb (£6.50 more) - does it make any difference?
But the main difference seems to be the graphics card :- dinoPC GTX 650 1gb versus the Overclockers GTX 660 2gb. Is the £68 price difference worth paying for 2 gb and some more speed?

thanks all

GQ87

The RAM will only make a difference depending on the space it leaves you. Having 8gb of RAM spread over two RAM sticks means two spaces are used - 1 8gb stick does the same thing, while only using one space, meaning adding more RAM in future is a possibility.

I realise you said you dont normally upgrade yourself, but fitting RAM is normally straight forward so it may be something you'd be interested in despite your lack of experience.

Rotor

GQ87 wrote: »

The RAM will only make a difference depending on the space it leaves you. Having 8gb of RAM spread over two RAM sticks means two spaces are used - 1 8gb stick does the same thing, while only using one space, meaning adding more RAM in future is a possibility.

I realise you said you dont normally upgrade yourself, but fitting RAM is normally straight forward so it may be something you'd be interested in despite your lack of experience.

Thanks GQ87, so 1x 8gb is the better option despite being cheaper?

GQ87

I reckon so dude.

Do you know how many spaces you have for additional RAM?

Rotor

Well this is a learning curve:o

4 sockets, but not sure if max RAM is 16 or 32gb. Both use AMD 760g but I don't know difference between 'chipset' and ' motherboard'. One quotes 16gb other 32gb max.
Can't see me needing more 16 anyway so doesn't really matter I suppose.

frugal_mike

Unless you are going to do video editing then 8GB will be more than enough. Adding extra RAM doesn't improve anything unless you're already using everything you have.

In terms of games, be prepared to play around a bit to get the best performance. For example I bought Bioshock Infinite on Friday and it was terribly stuttery, even though the framerate was about 90fps. Turns out it was a problem with the game, easily fixed by googling.

Cycrow

as far as ram goes, there are advantages of having 2 instead of 1 slots used.

you have such things as dual/triple/quad channel ram, which allows for permanence increases.

so having 2x4 instead of 1x8 will give you some increased performance. Essentially it allows ram to be accessed via multiple channels, increases the memory bandwidth.

as of adding more ram, you only need more ram if you are maxing out what you already have. If you only use say 5MB/8MB, then adding another 8MB will make 0 difference. No basic tasks require even 8MB, let alone more, most games don't, altho some newer ones are starting to need it